STILL GOT IT WRONG.

Guess I spoke sooner than I ought to.

But seriously, who cares?! Miami Heat was beat by the Dallas Mavericks in six games!

Take that LBJ!
I wonder if LBJ will end up just like John Stockton and Karl Malone, two of the "Ring-Less" basketball greats.

But let's see, maybe I am speaking too soon again.

So that's bye bye NBA for now and hello PBA!

Ginebra won last night. :)

Fanatic Frustration

It really sucks when your team isn’t playing the way you wanted them to play. My ever-mentioned basketball team, Ginebra Kings has been playing a very frustrating game, pulling only one win since the start of the conference.  Their two losses were due to a one-point deficit against their opponent. Just a point! And all the remaining seconds of both games were given to them, which they have not taken into their advantage. Disappointing. Very disappointing.

Ginebra used to be a highly defensive team, during Robert Jaworski’s time. They would rip their opponent and win eventually. I remember the tumultuous applause and jeers from the crowd whenever Jawo plays on the floor. 

Later on, the backcourt tandem of Mark Caguioa and Jayjay Helterbrand that were tagged such as the “Bandana Brothers” and “The Fast and The Furious” were heavy threats especially when they start their signature fastbreak shots. I miss those days. 

This was followed by the heavy hassles of Mr. Fearless, Ronald Tubid. He really does his part so well, that even if he gets stomped in the face by a haughty Macmac Cardona, he still gets the approval of the referees.

Ginebra used to be a highly offensive team as well, during the glory days of Mark Caguioa and Jayjay Helterbrand. When one of them is in the injured list, the other one really steps up that brings the whole team to the championship trophies. The same goes to Erik Menk who plays really well when he’s all healthy and well practiced.

I used to hate Willie Miller for his brilliance while he was still with the Alsaka Aces. Now, I still hate him, for not playing like he used to do against Ginebra.

Ginebra used to have a heart. Afterall, the tagline “Never say die” was first coined from them in the league. The team that’s been playing this conference is not my Ginebra Kings. I miss my team. 

Sports Boo-Boos

I’ve just been through a great ordeal. Just recently, I was crushed like a plastic cup and thrown into the trash. Even now, my heart pounds of frustration. My PBA team lost. My Barangay Ginebra Kings wasn’t able to reach into the semi final round of what should be the Tubid-Cardona face-off.

Theywerethisclose in winning that match up against the Alaska Aces, but I guess this loss will serve as a way for them to rethink the organization of the team. Seriously, a lot of these players are the best in their field, but as a team, they just couldn’t reconnect. New coach? Trade players? I don’t know.

Rumors are everywhere, but these will stay as rumors until the final word comes out. I just hope that those changes will be for the good of the team. As a fan, I will give my team a chance to regain their strength and confidence to play a decent game again.

Sportsmanship. It’s one essential value to bear in mind if you are considering to be an athlete or even just a die-hard fan of any athlete or team. Sportsmanship, nobility, humility - but not everyone can handle this.

When it comes to sports, the people involved, more than humility and sportsmanship possesses pride and aggressiveness. A lethal combo if you ask me, because people will do everything just to keep their pride intact. That’s where the technical fouls and the red cards come in. These serves as a warning for the players to try to loosen up and keep a clean game.

And sometimes, people just love to hate. They just love to feed their pride by squashing their opponents. And probably the best way to do this is through words. Bad words. You hear it everywhere. You hear it between the legions of fans of Kobe and Lebron. You hear it between Serena Williams and well, everyone she wanted to hate. You hear it between rivals, teammates, coaches and most especially, the fans. Lastly, you hear it from Floyd Mayweather Sr.

That “old hermit” has been badmouthing Manny Pacquiao for a long time now. Funny though, their team hasn’t even got the balls to fight this “little Filipino midget”.  I am not a fan of Pacquiao, but those Mayweathers are being racist about this.

I hope Manny gets to fight Floyd Mayweather Jr and beat him into smithereens. That’s for his father’s rudeness and “unsportsmanly attitude”, even if I just made that word up.

And now, back to my basketball "freakness".

'Tis STILL the season of balls

It is still the season of balls and I’m not complaining about it. I was just a basketball freak before, but now, I think I’m starting to appreciate other ball sports such as tennis and that very infamous soccer (or football, whatever you want to call it).

It’s a learning process and I’m lucky to have friends who are willing to give me a little bit of background on what’s going on in that side of the world of sports. Setting aside the physical attractions of the players involved with those sports, I am just starting to get a knack for it. And that’s me who hasn’t tweeted for a week now. No Twitter, no overcapacity.

Rafa’s Revenge

Rafael Nadal bagged the Wimbledon title as smooth as a silk. He swept the match against his opponent Tomas Berdych. As to what I’ve read online, Rafa redeemed his glory as he was sidelined for an injury last year. But things are looking quite good for him these days. After winning the French open, he now gets the Wimbledon title back. Roger Federer wasn’t able to defend his title as he was eliminated incidentally in a match against Berdych. Another notable story for this tournament was the 11-gruelling-hour match by Isner and Mahut. It was the longest tennis match ever recorded in history as per my friend Mia.

World Cup Weeps

Now this is another sport that I’m starting to understand and get interested with. Spectators all around the world were starting to weep day by day as their teams bid goodbye to the tourney. Early favorites Argentina and Brazil were already eliminated, which brought tears to tons of men and women alike. But I guess one of the momentous tearjerkers of the series was when Cristiano Ronaldo, his hotness and the rest of the Portugal team were sent home after a sorry loss against the powerhouse team, Spain. True to that, Spain is now head-to-head with the Dutchmen of Netherlands as they clash for the Finals Cup. I don’t have a bet between the two because I haven’t seen them play before, popularity-wise (and according to the octopus) - I think it’s going to be Spain.

King and vagabonds

After beating the Boston Celtics, NBA 2010 champs LA Lakers are now faced with the threat of another teams that recently acquired Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and the “KING” himself, LeBron James. Now that Wade, Bosh and James has signed with the Miami Heat, it seems that they will create a powerhouse team that may topple Phil Jackson’s “three-peat” legacy. I am such a fan of Dwyane Wade (not really a Miami fan-girl) more than the entire Lakers ballers, and now that LeBron will really be teaming up with him, I might find it hard to root whole-heartedly to them. I kind of have issues with the “king”. But definitely, the upcoming conference will be a treat and threat to basketball fanatics all over the world.

PBA Playoffs

Now let’s go local. The playoffs is about to kick start with the Quarterfinals Series with wildcard baby Rain or Shine Elastopainters against B-Meg Derby Ace Llamados, and the Alaska Aces up against the Baranggay Ginebra Kings. San Miguel Beermen and the (all star) Talk n’ Text Tropang Texters has gained the outright semis berth and are waiting for the teams that will resurface from the Quarterfinals. RoS and the Llamados will definitely put up a show as their key players are now on the limelight. Of course, James Yap and all his jazz (and pizzazz) against the “Sol Train” Sol Mercado who has been playing very well that led them to get through the wildcard phase. On the other side of the bracket, the Alaska Aces will face the Gin Kings with their new point guard, Topex Robinson. The Gin Kings on the other hand has just redeemed their sorry losses with the acquisition of new import Chris Daniels. I am a huge, huge Ginebra fan, but I think the two teams who might fight for the Fiesta Cup will be TnT and RoS. (It’s hard to topple the Texters now with Kelly Williams and Rain or Shine has definitely put up the most heart to the series so far)

I could go on talking about sports the whole day because everything is just so huge and has been a huge deal as well. Every sporting event is hyped and exciting as it can be. It makes me miss Twitter more. (I can never let go of the Twitter issue, right?) :D

Walk n’ Text

I am a big basketball fan. I watch both the PBA and NBA. I love watching UAAP and NCAA basketball tourneys. It all started way back 1996, Ginebra – Alaska Championship series. And since that day, I have been a Ginebra fan.

Some say that once you’ve become a Ginebra fan, you will always be a fan and I say yes to that. In this conference of the PBA, my team got into the quarterfinals round. They were up against the defending champs, Talk n’ Text. I have high regards in this team as well. Their players are great runners, shooters and defenders. They were actually a threat, especially when they imposed a 2-0 win-loss record against the Gin Kings in their series. Of course I was worried! But then Ginebra put up a fight and got their first win. The next game is a do-or-die match for my team. I decided not to watch the game because I was scared to lose. (yeah, that’s me.) but actually, there isn’t anything to watch. The whole bench of the Talk n’Text team deserted the court. They walked out in the middle of the game.


I was online on Twitter when it all happened. I was just reading the updates and the scores from people on the web. Then came Jason Webb’s post saying that “Talk n’Text walks out of the game”. And then people started tweeting a lot about it, so I went and watched the game. Everyone else is just waiting for the next thing to happen. Quinito Henson tried his best explaining what happened over and over again for the benefit of the people like me.

Apparently, TnT player Ranidel de Ocampo was called for a Flagrant Personal Foul 2 after hitting a running and shooting Ronald Tubid with his elbow. On the video replay, Tubid followed up the act by waving down his arm on Ranidel’s face. Tubid wasn’t called for any charges. After the referee’s call, TnT coach Chot Reyes ushered the whole bench into the dug out.

It was intriguing and quite controversial as even Manny Pangilinan, the team owner, followed them. PBA Commissioner Sonny Barrios was then called to meet with the coaching staff of TnT while the players get locked up in their room. Ginebra players and coaching staff was left along with thousands of people waiting in vain.

After a while, it was announced that Ginebra has won by default due to he walk-out incident. Later on, Chot Reyes went out to the press conference and shared their dismay about the unjust calls of the referees since their last game. Turns out, they were saying that the referees are more in favor of the Gin Kings. Coach Chot even has the statistics to back this up.

That being said, I still don’t think that a walk-out is necessary for this matter. It was just the last minute of the 1st quarter of the whole game. Their intentions and issues were valuable but this is not the right way to do it. Case in point, the crowd in Araneta Coliseum. It wasn’t a jam-packed game, but there are still thousands of people out there, along with the TV viewers waiting for a big game from both teams. There were refunds, right, but still, they should have considered the audience as well. I guess they were a bit self-centered in that situation. They acted like kids that could just quit any game as they wish.

I don’t know about the allegations with the unjust calls by the referees, but one thing’s for sure, this brought Ginebra to another level, as they were given a chance to tie the series, and eventually win on the next game.

I am a huge Ginebra fan. But this does not put me on the line to bash the TnT team. After all, they’ve paid for their actions already. Ginebra is on their way now to the semis. And that’s just what really matters to me now.

(This post just came from an outsider's point of view, for the real deal, click here..)